Apollo astronaut Ken Mattingly has passed away at the age of 87

He passed away back on October 31. After doing a search, I found no one mentioned it, so have decided to post about it. Sorry if Germans.

Mattingly was perhaps most famous for his role on the ill-fated Apollo 13 when, just days before the mission's scheduled launch, he was taken off the trip due to a health scare. Back-up lunar module pilot Charlie Duke had come down with a case of the Measles. Mattingly, having never had the Measles before, saw his flight status pulled as a precaution. Jack Swigert, the back-up command module pilot, stepped up to replace him.

After an explosion crippled the Apollo 13 mission on day three of its voyage, Mattingly was instrumental in coming up with procedures to power up the command module shortly before reentry into the earth's atmosphere. He would remain an astronaut and orbit the moon as command module pilot of Apollo 16. Staying in the astronaut program well into the 80s, Mattingly also commanded two space shuttle missions (STS-4 and STS-51-C) before retiring from the astronaut corps in 1985. He likewise retired from the Navy in 1986 at the rank of Read Admiral (Upper Half) - a two-star flag rank.



With his death, the list of remaining Apollo-era astronauts continues to dwindle. Only nine remain with us as of November 2023.

CNN article